The next morning, on the streets of Konoha—
"Oh no, oh no, oh no!"
A small black figure shot out of an alley, startling several cats sunning themselves by the roadside. They scattered in every direction. One of them even puffed up all its fur and let out a terrified "Mrow!" before leaping straight onto a nearby utility pole.
Uchiha Obito, age five, the future man who would become Hokage, was currently facing the greatest crisis of his life.
He was about to be late for school.
"I'm dead, I'm dead," Obito wailed as he sprinted. "Teacher Ibuki already yelled at me yesterday. If I'm late again today, I'm completely done for."
As he ran, Teacher Ibuki's dark, thunderous face rose vividly in his mind.
And that idiot Asuma—if he showed up late today, Asuma would definitely laugh at him.
Grinding his teeth, Obito pumped his little legs even faster.
Ahead of him, an elderly woman with graying hair was bent over, struggling to pick up vegetables and fruit scattered across the ground. Her basket must have tipped over—tomatoes, cucumbers, and apples were rolling everywhere.
Obito's steps faltered. He looked at the old woman, then at the road ahead. The gates of the ninja academy were still far away.
The sun was already climbing higher.
"Darn it." Obito clenched his teeth and skidded to a stop. "Grandma, I'll help you."
The old woman looked up and saw a sweaty little boy crouching down, quickly gathering the vegetables and tossing them back into the basket.
"Oh my, thank you, little one."
"It's nothing, it's nothing." Obito shoved the last tomato into the basket and jumped to his feet, already turning to run. "Grandma, I've gotta go, I'm gonna be late."
"Wait, take this." The old woman pulled a bright red apple from her basket and stuffed it into his hand. "Thank you for helping me. You're a good boy."
Obito stared at the apple in his hand for a second.
"Thank you, Grandma!"
Then he turned and ran again, his little legs spinning furiously.
But time waited for no one, and the sun only climbed higher.
Obito's heart sank lower and lower.
I'm done, I'm done, I'm really done this time!
Then Obito spotted a figure up ahead.
A red shirt. Yellow shorts. A little school bag on his back. Walking along at an unbelievably leisurely pace.
Obito's face instantly crumpled.
No way…
"NOHARA SHINNOSUKE!" Obito let out a tragic cry and somehow sped up even more.
Hearing the shout, Shin-chan turned around, raised a hand, and flashed his trademark sunny grin. "Morning, Obito."
His tone, his expression—he looked like they'd just run into each other in a park, not on the way to school with every second counting.
Obito dashed up to him, panting like crazy. "We're going to be late! Run!"
Shin-chan blinked. "Late? But the sun only just came out."
"The sun's been out for ages! You just woke up too late!"
"But I left at this same time yesterday."
"AND YOU WERE LATE YESTERDAY TOO!!!"
Shin-chan tilted his head, thought about it, then nodded. "I guess that's true."
"Stop thinking about it and run." Obito grabbed Shin-chan by the arm and charged forward.
Finally, the gates of the ninja academy came into view.
"Quick, quick!" Obito forced himself to go even faster. "There's still hope."
Shin-chan was being dragged along so hard he was practically airborne.
The two of them burst through the school gates, down the hallway, and up to the classroom door.
Everyone in the classroom turned to look at the two panting figures in the doorway.
Asuma was the first to grin, his mouth stretching wide.
Teacher Ibuki stood at the front of the room, having just set down his chalk. He looked at the two breathless boys in the doorway, and the corner of his eye twitched.
"Nohara Shinnosuke. Uchiha Obito."
"Here," the two of them answered at the same time.
"What time is it now?"
Obito lowered his head. "Eight ten."
"When did the class bell ring?"
"Eight o'clock."
"How late are you?"
Obito's voice got quieter and quieter, until it was barely louder than a mosquito. "Ten minutes."
Teacher Ibuki took a deep breath, then turned his gaze to Shin-chan.
"Nohara Shinnosuke."
"Here."
"Yesterday, you said you'd come earlier today. And what happened?"
Shin-chan blinked. "In the end, I was still late."
"…"
Someone in the classroom couldn't hold back a laugh and quickly covered their mouth.
Teacher Ibuki's eyebrow twitched. He took another deep breath, trying very hard to keep his tone calm. "Where is yesterday's homework? Your reflection on the Will of Fire. Three hundred words."
Shin-chan's eyes lit up. "I wrote it, I wrote it."
Then he pulled a crumpled sheet of paper out of his pocket and handed it over.
Teacher Ibuki took the paper, unfolded it, and his expression completely froze.
The page was covered in writing.
But it was only one sentence.
The Will of Fire means not eating bell peppers.
The Will of Fire means not eating bell peppers.
The Will of Fire means not eating bell peppers.
…
Thirty full lines.
Every single one exactly the same.
Teacher Ibuki's hand started trembling.
"Nohara Shinnosuke."
"Here."
"What is this?"
"My reflection on the Will of Fire." Shin-chan blinked. "I wrote thirty sentences. Each sentence has ten words, so that makes exactly three hundred words."
A cross-shaped vein bulged on Teacher Ibuki's forehead as he forced down his anger. "I said three hundred words, not thirty copies of the same sentence. This is not a reflection!"
"But teacher, yesterday you said three hundred words or more. You didn't say they couldn't all be the same." Shin-chan blinked innocently. "Thirty lines doesn't count?"
Teacher Ibuki's mouth twitched.
"And besides," Shin-chan continued, "those are my true feelings. The Will of Fire means not eating bell peppers—protecting yourself from eating bell peppers, protecting other people who don't eat bell peppers…"
"That's enough!"
Teacher Ibuki slammed the sheet of paper down onto the desk so hard the whole classroom shook.
Every child shrank back.
Shin-chan shrank back too.
"Nohara Shinnosuke." Teacher Ibuki pointed toward the door. "Go stand outside."
Shin-chan blinked. "Stand outside?"
"Yes. Until the end of first period."
Shin-chan looked at the hallway, then back at Teacher Ibuki, and muttered softly, "But it's so boring out there…"
"OUT!"
Obito stood beside him, watching all this happen, and could only shrink into himself and try to make his presence as small as possible, silently praying: Don't look at me, don't look at me, don't look at me…
Shin-chan sighed and slowly shuffled toward the door. When he got there, he turned back and looked at Obito.
"Obito, aren't you coming?"
Obito's heart dropped.
Teacher Ibuki's gaze landed on him.
"Uchiha Obito."
"Here."
"You were late too."
Obito lowered his head.
"Out. You can stand there with him."
Looking utterly dejected, Obito walked to the doorway and stood beside Shin-chan.
The classroom door closed behind them, and the hallway fell quiet.
Teacher Ibuki stood at the front of the room, his chest rising and falling sharply.
He stared at the sheet of paper covered in The Will of Fire means not eating bell peppers, and suddenly felt like a complete failure as a teacher.